Buffalo, Hot Springs, and Geysers O My!

We just returned from Yellowstone National Park where we spent five days (our longest stint yet) on our fifth trip to the Park. How shall I convey to you the magnificence of that place?

Shall I start with its history? And tell you it became the world’s first National Park in 1872, when the U.S. Congress set aside 2.2 million acres of forest, grassland and water to be preserved “for the benefit and enjoyment of the people” where “timber, mineral deposits, natural curiosities, or wonders” would be kept “in their natural condition.”

Or I could show you the buffalo, North America’s largest land mammal, roaming freely in Yellowstone’s valleys, as they have since prehistoric times;

sometimes up close and personal.

But why stop there when I can impress you with the deepest and bluest hot springs, bubbling up from the depths of the earth, superheated by the magma chambers miles below.

And the geysers! – no doubt you’ve heard of them – the largest concentration in the world are in Yellowstone – geysers that erupt when pressure builds and the earth’s plumbing can no longer contain the heated water, like Riverside Geyser below.

Yes. I will share all of that with you and more – but not now – for I need time to unpack the memories and sift through the (hundreds of) photos to show you the beauty that is Yellowstone National Park.

I’ll break it down in coming posts the way the Park does by region, and share the magic of Yellowstone Lake and West Thumb Geyser Basin, Old Faithful and the Upper Geyser Basin, Hayden Valley, Mammoth Hot Springs, the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, and much, much more!

So put on your walking shoes and come along for the Tour as I guide you through Yellowstone National Park!